Chapter 2

Sarah's grandfather looked alarmed and raised his voice:

"Oren, do you know what you're saying?"

I stood up and looked calmly at Sarah.

"Old Mr. Collins."

"I'm not capable enough to lead the WindRunner project."

"Perry is brilliant and forward-thinking. He's more suitable than me."

"Besides, Sarah would agree with what I'm saying, wouldn't she?"

Seeing how sensible I was being, her eyes turned cold:

"At least you know your place!"

Whether in terms of technical skills or qualifications, I was far more suitable for this position than Perry.

Before today, everyone had assumed I would lead this project, and my marriage to Sarah would naturally follow.

But in this life, Sarah's cold gaze fell on me.

I immediately understood—she had also come back.

Since you're so determined to save your childhood sweetheart.

Then I won't stand in your way.

Sarah said nothing and quickly left the conference room.

I knew where she was going. At this time, Perry was testing his battery design, and that explosion would take his life.

There was still time for everything.

I stayed where I was, my heart frozen.

Ten years of marriage in my past life couldn't compare to her favoritism toward Perry.

"Oren, do you know what you're saying!"

Old Mr. Collins' cane struck the ground heavily.

I met his disappointed gaze.

This old man who had personally taught me mechanical engineering now looked at me with complete bewilderment.

I spoke calmly:

"Old Mr. Collins, Sarah's heart is with Perry. I won't compete."

Old Mr. Collins and Mrs. Collins exchanged glances.

Thinking of Sarah's resolute departure just moments ago, they couldn't bring themselves to scold me.

I silently returned to my room, packing only a few clothes and a portable hard drive containing the core of the project.

The next morning, an internal company email announced the new personnel appointment.

Perry became the chief director of the WindRunner project, accompanied by a photo of him looking high-spirited.

I put the hard drive in my backpack without any expression.

Close to noon, violent arguing erupted from the office downstairs.

Standing at the end of the corridor, I heard Perry roaring.

"Sarah! You promised me that as soon as I became the director, you'd immediately hand over the German partnership to me!"

"So why is Oren's name still on it?"

Sarah replied helplessly:

"Perry, Oren handled all the preliminary technical communications for that partnership. If we change people now, the Germans will object!"

"I don't care!"

Perry said with dissatisfaction.

"I'm the future of the Collins family! Sarah, do you trust an outsider over me?"

The German partnership was key to the Collins family acquiring the latest generation battery management system.

In my past life, I had secured this partnership and optimized it, which led to the Collins family's new car achieving great success.

Sarah knew this perfectly well.

A few minutes later, my phone rang. It was Old Mr. Collins.

The old man sat in his office, looking exhausted.

"Oren, this matter... I've wronged you."

I suddenly understood—Sarah had given the position with the German contact to Perry after all.

I spoke flatly:

"Old Mr. Collins, you don't need to say anything."

"I understand."

Old Mr. Collins looked up at me with complex emotions in his eyes.

He had always treated me like his own grandson.

But caught between his granddaughter's request and the successor he favored, he ultimately sided with Sarah.

From my backpack, I took out the hard drive containing all my efforts and placed it in front of him.

"The hard drive contains all the data and technical plans for the WindRunner project, including materials for coordination with the Germans."

Every file on this hard drive embodied countless nights of my hard work.

Watching my calm face, Old Mr. Collins' lips moved, but he couldn't say a word.

I stood up and bowed deeply to him.

"Old Mr. Collins, I will never forget your years of guidance."

At that moment, Sarah and Perry burst through the door.

"He agreed?"

Sarah didn't even look at me, asking Old Mr. Collins directly.

Old Mr. Collins nodded, and Perry moved to take the hard drive.

But I suddenly spoke.

"Wait a moment."

Perry immediately stared at me warily:

"Oren, what are you trying to pull now?"

I shook my head and pulled out a document from my pocket.

"This is the most important Battery Safety Agreement from the German partnership. I just finished organizing it yesterday and haven't added it to the hard drive yet."

Perry took the document, and as he looked at the strict terms and data, his expression changed.

"This agreement has extremely high standards. If any single item doesn't meet specifications, the Germans will revoke the technology authorization, and our tens of millions in upfront investment will go down the drain."

My tone was flat.

"With your design, meeting these agreement standards shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Perry's face flushed red, but he still stubbornly snorted.

"Stop fear-mongering. It's just a safety agreement. I can handle it in no time."

I said nothing more.

Perry's approach of sacrificing safety for performance was basically a ticking time bomb.